As we approach the end of November, it’s perhaps appropriate that we reflect on how some of our underage programmes went during the recent past and this week I will concentrate on hurling matters. In that regard, let me say that the under 13 and under 15 floodlit hurling leagues which commenced on October 15th came to a conclusion last Monday, November 26th. We had four outings for the under 13s and two for the under 15s with the latter’s reduced complement of outings reduced due to restraints placed upon us by the fixtures calender. It’s good to report that we had five teams taking part for both blitzes, including Truagh, Castleblayney, Carrickmacross, Inniskeen and Monaghan Harps with each of them taking part in at least one or two blitzes. We had semi-finals and finals organised for both age groups. In the under 15 blitz, Monaghan Harps and Castleblayney qualified for the final with the county town winning out. In the under 13 competition, the final was between Inniskeen and Monaghan Harps with the Grattans emerging victorious. I would like to thank all the teams, their mentors and supporters for their commitment to the under 13 and under 15 blitzes over the past couple of months ’cause it’s not the easiest thing is the world to engage in hurling blitzes at this time of the year. I was pleased to see that standards right across both age group improved week in, week out with the nine aside format seemingly helping the players improve their touch on the ball greatly. In addition, the new rules applied to the blitzes also challenged the under 13 and under 15s to improve their skills and they responded in positive fashion. The blitzes have proven to be very worthwhile and perhaps the format we used could be looked at with regard to employing it at youth level right through from under 13 to under 18 level. It is very important that the players from 13-18 get enough hurling games made available to them although we have to accept that at times during the summer it can be very difficult to organise as many blitzes/games that we want ’cause of the number of football fixtures on at that time of the year. In that latter regard, we have to start thinking outside the box. Maybe we should concentrate on organising our hurling activities for early spring and the late autumn. Perhaps we could consider having indoor blitzes for all ages so that our players can really hone their ground hurling skills. Maybe we could consider staging the blitzes on astroturf pitches now that they are pretty readily available around the county. To be honest, I felt that there was quite a difference between the standard of the hurling served up by the under 13 teams and that served up by the under 15 players. The under 13s impressed me but in some cases the under 15s’ skills weren’t as good as we would have hoped. Is that because of a lack of organised training or a lack of interest among the players. I’m not sure. It must be said that the lack of hurling across the board in our secondary schools is an ongoing matter of concern. In some cases, the schools lack the resources to promote the game properly but, sadly, there is a lack of interest too in our native game in some secondary schools so the onus is on the neighbouring clubs to take up the slack in that instance. It also must be said that we struggled to gain some traction with the hurling Go-Games but perhaps we should look at putting on more programmes for the under 10s and 12s throughout the year. We have to continue to strive to take our hurlers to the next level and we have to get together to discuss the best way forward. Perhaps the setting up of a hurling sub-committee could be a positive step to take at this juncture. A lot of positive things have happened in our hurling world this year though and at the moment our indoor primary school hurling blitz is ongoing. We just need to seek to raise the bar more and look to challenge our young players to improve their skills at every opportunity once those opportunities are presented for them.